In our ongoing series of debates on suitably vinous topics, Guy Davies defends the use of the so-called ‘international’ varieties, the jet-set of grapes that produce Ch. Margaux, Sassicaia and Opus One. For all the wonderful complexities and intellectual pleasures that wine can offer, it is about one thing above all else: pleasure. Should not […]

Posturing that modern viticulture and vinification render it impossible to produce a truly bad wine in any vintage, Chris Lamb – Private Account Manager in our Fine Wine team – offers a retort to yesterday’s post. The term ‘vintage’, derived through the French word vin, literally translates to the year the grapes were harvested, relating […]

In response to yesterday’s post claiming that exploration is essential to the enjoyment of wine, Peter Newton considers the limits of discovery, suggesting that one should stick to the unswerving staples of a cellar. Let’s start with a fundamental truth: life is too short to drink bad wine. I could almost end my argument there, […]

Following on from yesterday’s post arguing in favour of the natural wine phenomenon, Martin Hudson MW contends that the trend represents a step backward for mankind (at least in the winemaking arena). Natural wine is one of the most divisive issues in the wine trade, with virtually no-one indifferent to it. As an unreconstructed techie, […]